Short Take: The buzz is true - scariest movie in years

Director: Oren Peli (debut)

Screenwriter: Oren Peli

Cast: Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat, Mark Fredrichs, Amber Armstrong

Length: 1h 26m

Synopsis: In 2006 a young couple living in San Diego begins experiencing strange happenings in their home for no apparent reason. The girl (Katie) claims to have endured the stalking of some strange ghost-like figure since she was a child, and it has haunted her periodically no matter where she lived. Her long-term boyfriend Micah decides to begin videotaping as much as he can to try and capture these hauntings as evidence, and what gets recorded truly shocks them.Analysis: 1999′s The Blair Witch Project proved to many people that there is just something about guerrilla filmmaking that fits so well with the horror genre. The combination works to much the same effect with Paranormal Activity. These films help prove the notion that with the correct style even subject matters as old as haunted houses can seem fresh and, more importantly, effective. In the case of horror, this means that what once was considered dull can become frightening again.

Fear is a tricky emotion to elicit, if for no other reason than because everyone reacts to it differently (angst, aggression, humor, etc.). Much of the reason that a movie can be scary relies on an audience member’s willingness to be scared. That being said, there are two things that every movie trying to induce terror attempts to do, and both have to deal with expectations. First there is the queuing of expectations to fit the story. In the case of a film like Paranormal Activity, we are first trained to deal with having our expectations withheld. We wait for something to happen, and until we don’t know when it will, that’s when it occurs. Secondly, after we become used to this, the film adjusts and begins to show its unpredictability. Being no longer dependable for meeting our expectations at all, the events that unfold are able to take us completely off guard, and that is when we give our most animated reactions.

The effectiveness of this two-pronged attack of course varies from film to film, but as said before much of that effectiveness is determined by both the film’s accompanying style and the audience’s cooperation. Paranormal Activity incorporates an ultra-real feel due to its home video look and natural-acting characters. What the characters say and how they react appears extemporaneous, which both helps us the audience relate to them (in believing that they’re real people) as well as feel as though their experiences are our experiences too. This unconscious connection, if held, predisposes how strongly one will react to what’s on screen. This film’s style and competent manipulation of expectations, mixed with a modern context, gives it a high chance of success in scaring its viewers.

Personal Note: I considered myself jaded by horror movies from watching many of them for years, yet I still felt very uneasy watching this film. It slowly grew on me, but by the end I wanted to be far from it.

Rating: 8.0